Energy

On Nov. 3, New England Botanic Garden was honored as the first botanic garden in the nation to be certified a Green Zone by the American Green Zone Alliance, as the Boylston garden is now performing all routine maintenance with electric lawn and garden equipment. 

These types of facilities are expected to become significantly more prevalent as energy costs remain unpredictable and large organizations seek the stability of generating heat and electricity onsite.

Embue, a Worcester-based startup that works with property owners to make buildings more energy and operationally efficient, raised $2.3 million in seed money.

The price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Massachusetts has risen to $3.84 from last week’s $3.77, according to a Monday press release from travel association AAA Northeast.

Mayflower Wind told state regulators Monday that it "intends to move forward" with the offshore wind contracts it agreed to this year, but also said that it will share with the state and utility companies an outside analysis of "challenges to financeability, with the goal of finding solutions that provide value to the rate payers."

Massachusetts is relying on offshore wind power generation to be a major contributor to its decarbonization goals over the next three decades but it is taking longer than first thought to get turbines spinning and now the largest project in the state's pipeline says it is "no longer viable and would not be able to move forward" without changes to the contracts between the developer and utility companies, likely increasing the cost of the power.

Whenever lawmakers get around to considering a closeout budget bill, Secretary of State William Galvin wants them to bulk it up with $50 million more to help Bay Staters heat their homes this winter.

Cornerstone Bank, a community bank with 13 locations in Central Massachusetts, has donated $50,000 to the Worcester Community Action Council to support its emergency fuel fund. 

Voting for the WBJ’s 2023 Best of Business awards, which seeks to highlight institutions throughout Central Massachusetts based on reader votes, will close this coming Monday, Nov. 14.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Massachusetts rose to $3.77 from $3.58 the previous week and up from $3.51 one month ago, according to travel association AAA Northeast.